Derek Walcott

Portrait of Derek Walcott
Derek Walcott 1930–2017
1930Born

Derek Alton Walcott (born January 23, 1930, died March 17, 2017) was a poet, writer and artist who was in the vanguard of the post-colonial school of English language writing. He was born in Castries, St. Lucia.

His work, which developed independently of the schools of magic realism emerging in both South America and Europe at around the time of his birth, is intensely related to the symbolism of myth and its relationship to culture. He is best known for his epic poem, Omeros a reworking of Homeric story and tradition into a journey around the Caribbean, and beyond to the American West and London.

In 1997, he collaborated with Paul Simon on the Broadway musical The Capeman. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992.

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License and uses material adapted in whole or in part from the Wikipedia article on Derek Walcott.

From readers

What readers say about Derek Walcott

  1. On Love After Love

    “At first reading this poem, i thought the poet was really vain. But reading through it more carefully made me realise the true meaning. It is a message to us all that there should be a time where we should put ourselves first. To me it is like advice presented in a way in which you feel you should…”

  2. On The Schooner 'Flight'

    “I like how the man from the U.K wrote beautifully about David Walcott, and the American was looking for a football hero and had the audacity to call David Walcott's poem's garbage... Why do I live in this cesspool of ignorance... for shame U.S... for shame...”

Where readers gather

Most discussed

  1. Love After Love22 comments
  2. The Schooner 'Flight'4 comments
  3. A City's Death By Fire1 comment
  4. Blues1 comment
  5. Codicil1 comment
  6. Dark August1 comment
  7. Sabbaths, W.I.1 comment
  8. The Sea Is History1 comment

All 21 poems

The Star-Apple Kingdom · 1979 · 2 poems
Other poems · 19